Patricia Perlow, longtime Lane County DA, on decision to retire, not run for 2024 election

After fulfilling her second term as Lane County District Attorney, Patty Perlow plans to retire from office in 2025 after 34 years of working in Eugene.

"I've been in this building since August of 1989," Perlow said. "It's time."

In January 1990, Perlow started her career as a trial lawyer prosecuting low-level misdemeanors and Measure 11 crimes such as murder and rape. Perlow says she has also supervised trial teams, mentored lawyers, and overseen death investigators and the victim services division.

The district attorney is the county's lead prosecutor responsible for leading a team of deputy district attorneys to prosecute people suspected of crimes, direct investigations and recommend sentences. The position is up for election every four years.

Perlow was first appointed as Lane County DA by former Gov. Kate Brown in 2015. She was then formally elected to the position in 2016, which made her the first woman in Lane County's history to serve in the role.

In 2020, Perlow was elected to a second term in office after earning nearly 70% of primary election votes.

"One term is not really enough," Perlow said. "I would have been five-and-a-half years in office."

Campaign promises: achievements and failures

There are a lot of things Perlow says she is proud of accomplishing during her time as District Attorney. She ran for re-election in order to continue her efforts in establishing programs like a mental health court and a DUI Court.

In 2016, Perlow established a mental health court to divert people in the criminal justice system who were diagnosed with mental or substance use disorders to treatment.

"Our treatment courts are thriving; they work," said Perlow. "We have a drug treatment court, a mental health court, a veteran's court. I am very proud of those things."

The mental health courts seek to reduce recidivism, promote public safety, and increase the quality of life for its participants.

Perlow says the program has "blossomed" in achieving working relationships with community partners to get people who go through the program into stable housing and get the resources they need to be successful.

Though the mental health court has been a proud achievement of Perlow's, starting a DUI Court is something that hasn't garnered as much success.

"A DUI Court would give people the same opportunities you get from our other treatment courts," said Perlow. "I think that would be good for our community."

DUI Diversion requires defendants to complete an alcohol and drug abuse assessment, complete the recommended treatment program and attend counseling, refrain from using alcohol, and install an approved ignition interlock device into their vehicles.

Perlow says the diversion program does not always result in success.

"The DUI diversion is, you fill out some paperwork, you get an assessment. If you're directed to treatment, you do treatment," said Perlow. "There's no additional contact."

"When we see a lot of repeat DUIs from people who have completed diversion, if we had the same kind of structure to a DUI Court that we have for our other treatment courts, I think our success rate would be better," she said.

Perlow said she is also proud of the office's grant utilization to build staffing within the DA's Office after almost losing a third of its staff during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Establishing sustainable funding is another campaign promise that Perlow says she has not accomplished for the DA's Office.

"When I first campaigned, I told the public that the grants that we had were not going to be sustainable and that's not a way to fund a public safety system and that we needed to find a permanent source," Perlow said.

Perlow chairs the Public Safety Coordinating Council and says she has asked the board and county administrator to start the process of a public safety task force in 2024 to find a permanent funding solution for public safety in Lane County that is sustainable and has public support.

What will retirement look like for Perlow?

After the completion of her second term in office, Perlow said she hopes to be of service to local schools.

Perlow said she knew in 2020 that she wasn't going to run for office following her second term, citing a difficult campaign process.

"The first thing I am going to do is take a step back," said Perlow. "I'm going to volunteer in the classrooms ... try to do something in service to kids."

She said she believes "if we can help kids at the front end to be healthy and want to learn and understand their role in the world, then maybe we won't need so much of this other stuff later."

She hopes to provide support to the education system by reading to kids and assisting teachers.

Perlow added that she's learned a lot about herself while working in the District Attorney's Office; from navigating elected office to engaging in political discourse. Now, she's ready to take a step back from the law and "grown-ups."

"It has never been dull, not a single day that I have been here has been dull and I've learned something new every single day," said Perlow. "It has been my honor and privilege to be here and it has been a real privilege to serve as District Attorney."

What are Perlow's Plans for the DA's Office in 2024?

In preparation for her successor following the primary election for District Attorney on May 21, 2024, Perlow said she hopes to set up her office for an easy transition.

"In the next year, all I can do is try to make sure everybody here is ready for a transition and set up to be as successful as possible to provide service to this community," Perlow said.

The new voter registration deadline is April 30. Election results will be certified to the Secretary of State on June 17, 2024.

As far as the election goes, Perlow said she hopes that Lane County residents vote for an individual who understands the role a district attorney has within the criminal justice system.

"I would hope that people in Lane County would want a district attorney who knows what a district attorney is supposed to do and how that role fits into the criminal justice system," said Perlow.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County DA Patricia Perlow on retirement decision, 2024 election